Table 1.
Solid tumor studies in adults examining the effect of cancer treatment on telomere length (N = 10)
| Reference | Cancer type(s) | Study design | Cancer patient sample size | Age range, y | Treatment type | Specimen | Telomere length method | Overall association |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brouwers et al., 2017 (33) | Breast | Longitudinal | 109 | 70–90 | Chemo: docetaxel+C; endocrine therapy, radiation, G-CSF | PB leukocytes | qPCR | No association |
| Benitez-Buelga et al., 2015 (12) | Breast | Longitudinal, cross-sectional* | 489 | 20–87 | Chemo: AC+T/T+AC or FEC+T/T+FEC (sporadic cancers only) | PB leukocytes | qPCR, high throughput Q-FISH | Shorter telomere length with treatment† |
| Duggan et al., 2014 (16) | Breast | Longitudinal, cross-sectional* | 611 | 18–64 | Varied, included 5-FU, A, C, taxanes; radiation | PB leukocytes | qPCR | No association |
| Sanoff et al., 2014 (35) | Breast | Longitudinal | 33 | 32–69 | Chemo: AC or ACT; FEC (n = 1) | PB leukocytes | TRF analysis | No association |
| Maeda et al., 2013 (36) | Lung, thyroid, prostate, rectal, hepatoma | Longitudinal | 25 | 52–83 | Radiation | PB leukocytes | TRF analysis | No overall association; decrease in proportion of short telomeres with higher dose† |
| Yoon et al., 2007 (37) | Gastric, esophageal, hepatoma, lung, breast, colorectal, ovarian | Longitudinal | 32 | 31–65 | Chemo: varied based on cancer type | PBMC | TRF analysis | Shorter telomere length after treatment† |
| Unryn et al., 2006 (14) | Head and neck | Longitudinal | 20 | 44–75 | Chemo: cisplatin; radiation | PBMC | TRF analysis | Shorter telomere length after treatment† |
| Idei et al., 2002 (38) | Ovarian | Longitudinal, cross-sectional | 42 | NR | Surgery, chemo: cisplatin-based | Free plasma DNA | TRF analysis | Longer telomere length after treatment |
| Schroder et al., 2001 (17) | Breast | Longitudinal | 33 | 29–54 | Radiation, chemo: FEC or FEC+C /thiotepa/carboplatin and autologous PBSCT, G-CSF; tamoxifen | PB leukocytes | TRF analysis | No association |
| Takahashi et al., 2000 (39) | Ovarian | Longitudinal | 21 | 28–78 | Chemo: A, cisplatin, C | Ovarian tumor tissues | TRF analysis | Shorter telomere length after treatment among nonresponders; no association in responders |
*
No pretreatment sample measured for telomere length. A = doxorubicin; C = cyclophosphamide; FEC = 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide; 5-FU = 5-fluorouracil; G-CSF = granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; PB = peripheral blood; PBMC = peripheral blood mononuclear cells; PBSCT = peripheral blood stem cell transplant; qPCR = quantitative polymerase chain reaction; Q-FISH = quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization; T = paclitaxel; TRF = terminal restriction fragment.
†
Result statistically significant.